Gaming machine with a hold symbol function

ABSTRACT

A gaming machine and associated method. Symbols are selected and presented on a display in a first random selection process. Each symbol is selected independently of each other symbol and the plurality of symbols are separated into at least three distinct groups of symbols, each group containing at least two symbol. A player of the gaming machine selects one or more of the groups of symbols to be held. In a second random selection process any symbols that are not held are reselected. A prize is paid according to a pay table and the symbols presented following the second random selection process.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/060,016 having a filing date of Jun. 9, 2008, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[Not Applicable]

MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE

[Not Applicable]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to gaming machines and methodsof gaming. A particular embodiment of the present invention relates togaming machines that select and present a plurality of game outcomes onwhich the player may stake a wager.

With the increase of gambling at gaming venues has come increasedcompetition between gaming venues to obtain a larger share of the totalgambling spend. Gaming venue operators have therefore continuouslylooked for new variations and types of games in order to attract bothnew and return customers to their venues.

In response to this need, suppliers of gaming devices and systems haveattempted to provide the sought after variety, while still developinggames that comply with the relevant regulations in the jurisdiction ofthe gaming venue operator. Suppliers therefore are faced withrestrictions on the types of games and gaming machines that areallowable, both in terms of the prevailing regulations and in terms ofproviding a return on investment to the gaming venue operators.

One way in which suppliers have provided increased variety and interestis to provide multi-line spinning reel gaming machines and other gameswith a plurality of outcomes, such as poker-style card games withmultiple hands. The increased number of game outcomes that result (oneoutcome per pay line in a spinning reel game and one outcome per hand ina card game), provides for increased wager options. For example, theplayer may select to wager on one pay line or hand, or may select towager on a plurality of pay lines or hands. In addition, the player mayselect to wager a variable amount on each outcome. For example, in aspinning reel game, in one game play the player may wager 1 credit perpay line selected and in another game play may wager 10 credits per payline selected.

In addition to the demand for new games, there continues to be a demandfor traditional types of games. For example, gaming machines withmechanical reels driven by stepper motors continue to be popular withmany players. There is therefore also a demand for gaming machines thatmay be of interest to these players.

With regards to gaming machines players often look to games where theyhave a degree of input and control over the outcome. Games such as videoPoker give players a chance to select, from an initial display oftypically five playing cards, which cards to hold and which to discardin the hopes of improving the hand ranking (and award) on the draw wherediscarded cards are replaced.

Still a further aspect of gaming is the desire of players to be able toincrease their odds for receiving a winning outcome. This can be done byproviding, more wager options as described above such as providingplayers with the ability to wager on multiple pay lines or arrangements.Providing more wagering propositions increases the odds for a player toreceive a winning outcome and, for the casino, increases the amountswagered and hence their expected profits.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a methodfor use with a gaming machine that is arranged to select symbols,present the selected symbols on a display and award an award if awinning outcome occurs, the method comprising:

in a first random selection process selecting a plurality of symbols andpresenting the selected symbols on a display of the gaming machine,wherein each symbol is selected independently of each other symbol andthe plurality of symbols are separated into at least three distinctgroups of symbols, each group containing at least two symbols;

receiving a selection from a player of the gaming machine of one or moreof the groups of symbols to be held;

in a second random selection process reselecting any symbols that arenot selected by the player to be held and presenting the reselectedsymbols on the display; and

paying a prize according to a pay table and the symbols presentedfollowing the second random selection process.

In one embodiment, the symbols are presented in a matrix having n rowsand m columns, wherein m is at least 3 and n is at least 2 and whereinthe at least three distinct groups of symbols are the symbols in eachcolumn of the matrix.

In one embodiment, the method further includes providing the option toselect none of the groups of symbols to be held.

In one embodiment, the method further includes providing the option toselect all of the groups of symbols to be held.

In one embodiment, the display is the visible portion of a plurality ofphysical spinning reels, one reel for each said presented symbol on thedisplay.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for use with a gaming machine that is arranged to, in responseto the staking of a wager, select symbols, present the selected symbolson a display to represent a plurality of outcomes and award an award ifa winning outcome occurs, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of a plurality of outcomes on which to stake awager;

in a first random selection process selecting a plurality of symbols andpresenting the selected symbols on a display of the gaming machine inmanner so that a plurality of initial outcomes are visuallydeterminable, wherein each symbol is selected independently of eachother symbol and the plurality of symbols are separated into at leastthree distinct groups of symbols, each group containing at least twosymbols and wherein each of the plurality of outcomes includes one andonly one member of each group of symbols;

receiving a selection from a player of the gaming machine of one or moreof the groups of symbols to be held;

in a second random selection process reselecting any symbols that arenot selected by the player to be held and presenting the reselectedsymbols on the display so that a plurality of final outcomes arevisually determinable; and

following the second random selection process either paying a prize ornot according to a pay table and the final outcomes.

In one embodiment, the selection of a plurality of outcomes on which tostake a wager is a selection of three outcomes. In one embodiment, thereare five said groups of symbols.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda gaming machine that is arranged to select symbols, present theselected symbols on a display to represent a plurality of game outcomesand award an award if a winning outcome occurs in the plurality of gameoutcomes, the gaming machine comprising:

a game controller in communication with a display, the game controllerincluding a random number generator, the game controller adapted to usenumbers generated by the random number generator to select symbols forpresentation on the display in a process including two stages, wherein

in a first stage of the process, a first selection of a plurality ofsymbols is presented on the display to form a plurality of initialoutcomes, wherein each symbol is selected independently of each othersymbol;

in a second stage of the process, one or more subsets of symbols arereselected and presented on the display to form a plurality of finaloutcomes, wherein each subset includes one and only one symbol from eachof the plurality of outcomes;

following the second stage paying a prize according to a pay table andthe final outcomes.

In one embodiment, the gaming machine includes a user interface adaptedto allow a player of the gaming machine to select the number of saidsubsets of the first selection of symbols to be reselected.

In one embodiment, the symbols are presented in a matrix having n rowsand m columns, wherein n is at least 2 and m is at least 3 and whereinsubsets of the first selection of symbols available for selectionconsist of at least two of the columns of symbols in the matrix. In thisembodiment, the gaming machine and user interface may be adapted so thatthe player can select any of the m columns to be reselected. The gamingmachine and user interface may also be adapted so that the player canselect all or none of the m columns to be reselected.

In one embodiment, the display is the visible portion of a plurality ofphysical spinning reels, one reel for each said presented symbol on thedisplay.

Further aspects of the present invention and further embodiments of theaspects described in the preceding paragraphs will become apparent fromthe following description, given by way of example and with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: shows diagrammatically, a view of a gaming console suitable forimplementing the present invention.

FIG. 2: shows a block diagram of gaming machine suitable forimplementing the present invention.

FIG. 3: shows a block diagram of components of the memory of the gamingmachine represented in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4: shows diagrammatically, a first game screen according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5: shows diagrammatically, a second game screen according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6: shows a flow diagram of a process performed in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8: show a further embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 9 and 10: show yet another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, one example of a gaming consolethat is suitable to implement the present invention is generallyreferenced by arrow 114.

The gaming console 114 includes two displays 106A, 106B on one or bothof which is displayed representations of a game that can be played by aplayer and a bank of buttons 107A and/or a touch screen 107B to enable aplayer to play the game. The displays 106 may be video display units,such as a cathode ray tube screen device, a liquid crystal display,plasma screen, any other suitable video display unit, or the visibleportion of an electromechanical device. In one particular embodiment ofthe invention, the display 106A is an array of physical spinning reels,which are rotated by stepper motors. The display 106B may displayartwork, including for example, pay tables and details of bonus awardsand other information or images relating to the game. In alternativegaming consoles the display 106B may be omitted, optionally replaced bya static display. Where a single game is played, as hereinafterdescribed, only display 106A need be a processor controlled display suchas an LCD, plasma, OLED or other video display. Where multiple games areplayed display 106A may be configured to handle the display of the gamesor additionally or alternatively the top display 106B may be a processorcontrolled video display displaying one or more games to the player.

A credit input including a coin input 110A and/or bill collector 110Ballows a player to provide credit for wagering and a coin output 111 isprovided for cash payouts from the gaming console 114. A card and/orticket reader 108 and a printer 109 may be provided to provide playertracking, cashless game play or other gaming and non-gaming relatedfunctions.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a gaming machine, generally referencedby arrow 100, suitable for implementing the present invention. Thegaming machine 100 may include the gaming console 114 shown in FIG. 1and accordingly like reference numerals have been used to describe likecomponents in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The gaming machine 100 includes a game controller 101, which in theillustrated example includes a computational device 102, which may be amicroprocessor, microcontroller, programmable logic device or othersuitable device. Instructions and data to control operation of thecomputational device 102 are stored in a memory 103, which is in datacommunication with, or forms part of, the computational device 102.Typically, the gaming machine 100 will include both volatile andnon-volatile memory and more than one of each type of memory, with suchmemories being collectively represented by the memory 103. Theinstructions to cause the game controller 101 to implement the presentinvention will be stored in the memory 103. The instructions and datafor controlling operation of the computational device 102 may be storedon a computer readable medium from which they are loaded into the gamingmachine memory 103. The instructions and data may be conveyed to thegaming machine by means of a data signal in a transmission channel.Examples of such transmission channels include network connections, theInternet or an intranet and wireless communication channels.

The game controller 101 may include hardware credit meters 104 for thepurposes of regulatory compliance and also include an input/output (I/O)interface 105 for communicating with the peripheral devices of thegaming machine 100. The input/output interface 105 and/or the peripheraldevices may be intelligent devices with their own memory forinstructions and data.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral devices that communicatewith the controller are the displays 106, bank of buttons/touch screen107, the card and/or ticket reader 108, the printer 109, a bill acceptorand/or coin input 110 and a coin output 111. Additional devices may beincluded as part of the gaming machine 100, or devices omitted asrequired for the specific implementation.

The bank of buttons 107A and/or touch screen 107B together with one orboth of the displays 106 may provide a user interface 115 through whichthe gaming machine 100 and player communicate. If a card/ticket reader108 is provided, this may also form part of the user interface 115.

In addition, the gaming machine 100 may include a communicationsinterface, for example a network card 112. The network card 112, may forexample, send status information, accounting information or otherinformation to a central controller, server or database and receive dataor commands from the central controller, server or database. The networkcard 112 may also enable communication with a central player account,allowing cashless gaming. One or more of the peripheral devices, forexample the card/ticket reader 108 may be able to communicate directlywith the network card 112. The network card 112 and the I/O interface105 may be suitably implemented as a single machine communicationsinterface.

The game controller 101 may also include a random number generator (RNG)113, which generates a series of random numbers that are used by thecomputational device 102 to determine the outcomes of games played onthe gaming machine 100. In particular, the RNG 113 determines thedisplayed stopping position of each of the reels 1 (see FIG. 4). Reels 1may be either electro-mechanical stepper reels or video generatedrepresentations of reels.

The game controller 101 may have distributed hardware and softwarecomponents that communicate with each other directly or through anetwork or other communication channel. The game controller 101 may alsobe located in part or in its entirety remote from the user interface115. Also, the computational device 102 may comprise a plurality ofdevices, which may be local or remote from each other and mayincorporate jackpot servers and other devices that determine game playof games on the gaming console 114. Instructions and data forcontrolling the operation of the user interface 115 may be conveyed tothe user interface 115 by means of a data signal in a transmissionchannel. The user interface 115 may be a computational device, forexample a personal computer, used by a person to play a game providedfrom a remote game controller 101.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of the main components of thememory 103. The RAM 103A typically temporarily holds instructions anddata related to the execution of game programs and communicationfunctions performed by the computational controller 102. The EPROM 103Bmay be a boot ROM device and/or may contain system and game relatedcode. The mass storage device 103C may be used to store game programs,the integrity of which may be verified and/or authenticated by thecomputational controller 102 using protected code from the EPROM 103B orelsewhere.

FIG. 4 shows a screen display that may be displayed on the display 106Athat includes a touch screen 107B. The screen display in this embodimentshows a game that displays on the display 106A fifteen reels 1 (one onlyindicated by a reference numeral), each of which presents a symbol 2(one only indicated). In the embodiment shown, the reels 1 are arrangedin an array in the form of a matrix having three rows and five columns3-7. Below the columns 3-7 is displayed ‘Hold’ icons 8-12, whichrepresent the location of touch panels on the touch screen 107B.

Each of the fifteen reels 1 has a plurality of symbols on it and in thisembodiment displays a single symbol when stopped. The number of symbolson each of the reels 1 is a matter of design choice. For example, eachreel may have between 15 to 25 symbols, with either all reels having thesame number of symbols or different reels having differing numbers ofsymbols, depending on the specific implementation. The symbols sets onthe reels 1 may all be the same or may differ between the reels.

When the game is played, the stopping position of each of the reels 1 isindividually randomly determined. Accordingly the symbols 2 displayed byeach reel 1 is randomly determined independently of the stoppingposition of the other reels 1. By way of example only, the reels maydisplay the symbols as shown in FIG. 4.

The player then selects between zero and all of the columns 3-7 to‘Hold’. Equivalently, the player may select between zero and all of thecolumns 3-7 to reselect or discard.

For example, the pay table of the game may specify that three, four orfive ‘J’ symbols along a pay line pay prizes. If the symbols shown inFIG. 4 are displayed in the initial display or “deal”, the player maychoose to hold columns 3, 4, 5 and 7, both to preserve the winningcombination of three ‘J’ symbols and in the hope that the reel on thethird row of column 6, when re-spun, will reveal a ‘J’ symbol to providefive ‘J’ symbols along the pay line P3 (see FIG. 5). Assuming that thischoice is made, then all three reels 1 in column 6 are re-spun on the“draw”, which may result in the screen display shown in FIG. 5. Thisscreen display indicates whether a win has occurred.

In this embodiment, the game has three pay line P1-P3 that extend acrosseach of the three rows of reels 1. If the rules of the game requirecombinations of symbols to occur from left to right along a pay line,and three or more ‘J’, ‘Q’, ‘K’ or ‘A’ symbols along a pay line to win aprize, then the result of the game play indicated by FIG. 5 is theawarding of the prize specified in the pay table for three ‘J’ symbols.

The two-stage selection process of the initial deal and the drawtherefore provides a plurality of initial outcomes (the symbols shown inFIG. 4 along the pay lines P1-P3) and a plurality of final outcomes as aresult of the draw (the symbols shown in FIG. 5 along the pay linesP1-P3). In some embodiments, the player may be given two or moreopportunities to hold or reselect symbols, meaning that there would beone or more intermediate outcomes and a three or more stage selectionprocess. Of course, the more opportunities to reselect symbols, thehigher the chance of the total game play resulting in a winning outcomein one or more of the outcomes and therefore the wager required and/orthe prizes payable will need to reflect this to achieve a requiredexpected return to player for the gaming machine 100.

As is apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, conflicting hold strategies mayresult. For example, instead of preserving the three ‘J’ symbols on payline P3, the player may choose to hold the reels in columns 3, 4 and 7,in the hope of achieving three, four or five ‘K’ symbols along pay lineP1. Which option is preferred depends on the chance of achieving each ofthese winning outcomes and the size of the prize associated with eachoutcome, as specified by the pay table for the gaming machine 100. Byway of simplified example, if every symbol had a 1 in 5 chance ofoccurring on a reel 1, then if reels 3-5 and 7 were held, there would bean 80% chance of achieving a win for three ‘J’ symbols and a 20% chanceof achieving a win for five ‘J’ symbols. If instead reels 3, 4 and 7were held, there would be a 16% chance of achieving a win for three ‘K’symbols, a 4% chance of winning the prize for five ‘K’ symbols, a 16%chance for winning the prize for three ‘J’ symbols and a 4% chance ofwinning the prize for five ‘J’ symbols.

If the prizes had values as follows:

-   -   Three ‘J’ symbols pays 5 credits;    -   Five ‘J’ symbols pays 25 credits;    -   Three ‘K’ symbols pays 20 credits; and    -   Five ‘K’ symbols pays 50 credits;        then the expected return for holding reels 8-10 and 12 is 9        credits and the expected average return for holding reels 8-9        and 12 would be 7 credits. Therefore, statistically the better        strategy is to hold reels 3-5 and 7. However if the prize for        five ‘K’ symbols paid 250 credits, then the expected average        return for holding reels 3-4 and 7 would increase to 15, making        the better strategy the holding of reels 3-4. The game could        therefore involve a skill element, requiring the player to        choose the correct hold strategy, or the gaming machine could        recommend or require the best hold strategy for the player.

Prizes other than prizes in credits may be offered. For example, a prizemay be an award of a feature game or the award of a physical item, suchas a car. Each of these prizes will have a value or expected averagevalue that can be used to determine the expected overall return of thegame and the expected return of each hold strategy in a game.

In the screen shot shown in FIG. 5, the Hold icons 8-12 are notdisplayed, as the player no longer has the option to hold some symbolsand reselect others. Alternatively, the Hold icons 8-12 may still bedisplayed. When still displayed, the icons 8-12 may be lit brightly whenthey can be selected to hold symbols in their respective column 3-7 anddulled when the final outcome is displayed. When selected the icons 8-12may be dulled, or may flash or otherwise represent that they have beenselected.

While the description of FIGS. 4 and 5 has been provided with referenceto an electronic gaming machine where a video display displaysrepresentations of reels, cards or other symbol carrying devices, in oneembodiment the symbols are carried on physical reels. In this case, theHold icons 8-12 are replaced by Hold buttons, which may be part of thebank of buttons 107A, or provided separate to the bank of buttons 107A,for example immediately below the physical reels to in a similarconfiguration to that shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. The Hold buttons may beilluminated to show when they can be used to hold symbols.

FIG. 6 shows a process flow diagram of a process performed in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. The process may beperformed by any of the versions of the gaming machine 100 describedpreviously herein.

In step 20, the game controller 101 monitors the bill acceptor and/orcoin input 110 and/or information received by the card/ticket reader 108or network card 112 for a deposit of credit and in response causes thehardware meters 104 to increment according to the denomination of thegame. The game controller 101 then monitors the user interface 107 forthe input of a wager. The input of the wager may specify whether playerwishes to wager on pay line P2 alone, on pay lines P1 and P2, or on allthree pay lines P1-P3. The input may also specify the amount to bewagered on each pay line. In alternative embodiments, the number of paylines may be fixed at three and/or the amount to be wagered per pay linemay be fixed.

If there is sufficient credits in the meters 104 to support the wager, agame play is commenced in step 21 by the game controller 101 receivingrandom numbers from the RNG 113, spinning the reels 1 and causing thereels 1 to stop according to the received random numbers. As previouslydescribed, the stopping position of each reel is independentlydetermined.

In step 22 the game controller monitors the bank of buttons and/or touchscreen 107 for a player input of reels to be held. The player may selectcolumns of reels to hold by touching the touch screen 107B at thelocation of between zero and all five of the ‘Hold’ icons 8-12. Repeatedpresses of the same ‘Hold’ icon may cycle between selecting anddeselecting a column to be held. As discussed previously, the gamingmachine may indicate a recommended hold strategy, for example byilluminating the appropriate columns and/or the appropriate ‘Hold’ iconsand may require selection of the recommended hold strategy. This may beachieved by preventing continued play until the appropriate columns havebeen held.

The player may indicate completion of the selection of a hold strategyby pressing a ‘spin’ or ‘draw’ button (step 23). This may be button inthe bank of buttons 107A. The game controller 101 then determines if anysymbols have not been held. If all five columns have been held, then theprocess proceeds to step 26.

If there are reels that have not been held, then these reels are re-spunand stopped to reveal the game outcome (step 25). In step 26 any prizesare awarded to the win meter. These prizes may be transferred to thecredit meter automatically, or after the completion of further optionalgame processes, such as a double or nothing gamble feature.

The embodiment described above had a total of fifteen reels, eachpresenting one symbol. In other embodiments other numbers of reels maybe provided. For example, an alternative embodiment may involve a gamehaving three columns and two rows so as to present six symbols. Anotherembodiment may have three columns and three rows of reels. A stillfurther embodiment may have six columns and four rows.

In addition, the reels need not be presented in a matrix. All that isrequired is the presentation of a plurality of symbols in three or moregroups, to allow a hold strategy to be determined and selected. Incertain embodiments of the invention, including the embodimentsdescribed herein previously, each group of symbols may include one andonly one symbol from each outcome that indicates whether a winningoutcome has occurred (i.e. each group includes only one symbol from eachpay line P1-P3). Alternatively, larger groups may be provided. Forexample, a player may be required to select either both of columns 3 and4 to be held or select none of the symbols in these two columns to beheld. The option could still be provided to select columns 5-7individually, or these columns may be split into a group of two columnsand a single column.

In another embodiment, and with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the display106A displays a primary game display with three vertically arrangedreels 200, 202, 204 each displaying three symbols in rows 208, 210, 212.Each reel 200-204 may be an electro-mechanical stepper reel or may be areel displayed on a video display as is known in the art. Each reel200-204 defines a set of symbols such as symbols S1-SN as is known inthe art. There may be, for example, twenty-two stops for each reel witheach stop defining a position for a symbol (including graphic symbolssuch as “7s”, “Bar”, “Cherry” or blanks or a partial symbol where theremay be more stops than symbols. Under control of the processor 102 thereels 200-204 are controlled spin and stop to randomly position symbolsin the 3×3 game matrix 214 defined by the three reels 200-204 and thethree rows 208-212 to define, at least initially, a primary game initialdisplay.

In addition to the primary game display at display 106A the player canenable one or more second games 216 a-d which are also, in this example,3×3 display matrices. These second games 216 a-d can be displayed atdisplay 106B or, in the alternative, may share real estate with theprimary game display at the display 106 a.

The primary game display 106A has one or more pay lines. While there maybe numerous pay lines, for purposes of explanation it will be assumedthat the primary game as well as the second games have only threehorizontal pay lines 218, 220, 222. It should be understood that theremay be more or fewer pay lines.

To play the game of FIGS. 7 and 8, the player makes a wager to enableone or more pay lines for the primary game and for one or more secondgames 216 a-d. A wager protocol is preferably adopted such that theplayer's wagers first enable the pay lines of the primary game beforeenabling pay lines in any second game 216 a-d. Alternatively, through atouch screen input, the layer may be able to allocate some of thewagers. For purposes of this example it will be assumed the player haswagered the maximum amount to enable the primary and the four secondgames 216 a-d.

When the player has made their wager game play is prompted and theprocessor 102 and RNG 113 randomly select and display at the display106A a primary game initial display or “deal”. The player then has theoption to hold none, one or more reels 200-204 in the hopes of improvingthe outcome in relation to a predetermined pay table. In the example ofFIG. 7 the player has elected to hold reels 200 and 204 and re-spin reel202 in the hopes, for example, of receiving three S1 symbols on pay line218. The held reels 200 and 204 are replicated into each enabled secondgame as shown. The player then commands a “draw” whereupon the processor102 and RND 113 random select a stop position for and display for eachof the primary game and second games 216 a-d for the center reels 202.FIG. 8 shows the displays after the draw. As can be seen in FIG. 8, foreach of the primary and second games 216 a-d the stop positions for eachof the primary and secondary games middle row on the draw each randomlypositioned producing in most cases different winning or losing outcome.With reference to FIG. 8 the primary game has a winning outcome onpayline 218 of three S! symbols on payline 218. Winning outcomes alsoappear in second games 216 b and 216 c of also three S1 symbols on thecenter payline. The payer would receive an award for each winingoutcome. For the next “hand” the player would wager to enable thepaylines and second games as discussed above.

Turning to FIG. 9 still a further embodiment of the present invention isshown. In this embodiment a primary game 300 is shown defined by a gamematrix having three reels 200, 202, 204 and rows 208, 210, 212. Theleftmost reel 200 may be configured to display a single symbol as shownor “stacked” versions of the same symbol such that reel 200 alwaysdisplays a single symbol. Since most pays are from left to right byproviding a single symbol (or stacked copies of the same symbol) at reel200 confusion over symbol combinations and which reels to hold isdiminished. The game of FIG. 9 may be a payline game as described aboveor may be a pay arrangement game such as that described in U.S. Pat. No.6,093,102 owned by the assignee of this application, such games soldunder the mark REEL POWER®, the disclose of which is incorporated byreference. In such games the player wagers on reels and symbolarrangements. For example, with reference to the primary game 300 afirst wager would enable the leftmost reel 200 and the center row forreels 202 and 204 defining a single pay arrangement. A player may, forexample, be able to wager five credits on the first arrangement.Wagering more would enable not only the first arrangement but a secondarrangement including all of the symbols of the second reel 202 and thecenter row of reel 204 now defining three symbol arrangements. Again theplayer may be able to wager more on the second arrangement up to amaximum permitted by the game. Wager still more the player would enableall reels defining nine symbol arrangements. The available symbolarrangements are defined by the equation: N1M×N2M×N3M where N! is theleftmost reel 200, N2 is the center reel 202 and N3 is reel 204 and “M”is the number of rows of different symbols displayed for the reel forthe game. Thus for the primary game there are 1×3×3 possiblearrangements for the player to wager upon. To simplify wagering aprotocol may be adopted for player wagering. For example the first fivecredits wagered would be applied to the first pay arrangement with thesixth-tenth credits wagered adding the second arrangement and so forth.Thus the player could wager a maximum of forty-five credits for theprimary game.

In addition to the primary game one or more secondary games 302 a, bgames are provided in the display 106B or share real estate with theprimary game at display 106A. The player may enable the one or moresecondary games 302 a,b by selecting and/or wagering. For example, thecredits may be wagered and allocated as follows:

TABLE 1 Credit Wagered Game Pay Arrangement 1 Primary 1st 2 Second game302a 1st 3 Second game 302b 1st 4 Primary Game 1^(st) and 2nd 5 Secondgame 302a 1^(st) and 2nd 6 Second game 302b 1^(st) and 2nd 7 Primarygame 1^(st), 2^(nd) and 3rd 8 Second game 302a 1^(st), 2^(nd) and 3rd 9Second game 302b 1^(st), 2^(nd) and 3rd 10 Primary game 2 credits on1^(st), 1 credit on 2^(nd) and 3rd

And so forth. According to this example the player could wager a maximumamount for the primary and two second games 302 a,b of 9 arrangements ×5credits per arrangement ×3 games=135 credits. Other wagering schemes maybe adopted.

The pay arrangements of Table 1 are:

After the player has made their wager game play is prompted and theprocessor 102 and RNG 113 randomly select and display at the display106A a primary game initial display or “deal”. According to thisembodiment the reel 200 is automatically “held”. Accordingly reel 200should have a symbol set such that no initial deal is a “dead hand”.i.e. cannot possibly result in a winning outcome. The automatic holdingof reel 200 simplifies the player's decisions and is believed to helpspeed play. It should be understood that the game may randomly selectwhich reel(s) 200, 202, 204 to hold or, where all reels are similarlypopulated with symbols the processor may select the reel(s) to hold forthe best possible outcome for the player. Held reel 200 is duplicatedinto any enable second games 302 a,b. The player next has the option ofadditionally holding one or both of reels 202, 204 in the hopes ofobtaining a winning outcome. In the example of FIG. 7 the player wouldhold reel 204 (assuming the player has enabled the third payarrangement, i.e. all possible none ways of winning) hoping to get oneor more combinations of S1 symbols for a winning outcome. The held reels202,204 are replicated into each of the enabled second games 302 a, b.

The player then prompts a “draw” whereupon the processor randomlyselects and displays the symbols for reel 202 for the primary and anysecond games 302 a,b to complete play and produce an outcome for eachgame. Each outcome is then compared to a schedule of winning outcomesand the player receives an award for all winning outcomes. For example,with reference to FIG. 10 and assuming three S1 symbols are a winningoutcome the player has obtained two winning outcomes in the primary game300 and one winning outcome ins the second game 302 a.

The foregoing game can be played on any suitable game matrix of N reelsand M rows and can be played as an arrangement game such as thatdescribed above and with reference to the '102 patent cited above or canbe based upon paylines. The game can also be played with eitherelectro-mechanical stepper reels or video reels.

While the foregoing description has primarily focussed on a spinningreel game, the invention may be implemented in other forms, such as acard game where cards are selected and displayed on the display 106A, ora dice game.

While the foregoing description has been provided by way of example ofthe preferred embodiments of the present invention as presentlycontemplated, which utilise gaming machines of the type found incasinos, those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that thepresent invention also may have application to internet gaming and/orhave application to gaming over a telecommunications network, wherehandsets are used to display game outcomes and receive player inputs.

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to integershaving known equivalents, then those equivalents are hereby incorporatedherein as if individually set forth.

Those skilled in the relevant arts will appreciate that modificationsand additions to the embodiments of the present invention may be madewithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in thisspecification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more ofthe individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings.All of these different combinations constitute various alternativeaspects of the invention.

1. A method for use with a gaming machine that is arranged to selectsymbols, present the selected symbols on a display and award an award ifa winning outcome occurs, the method comprising: providing for a playerto make a wager to enable one or more hands of plays; selecting anddisplaying symbols in a game matrix at a game display defining a primarygame display; receiving a selection from a player of the gaming machineof one or more rows of the matrix including of the groups of symbols tobe held; in a second random selection process reselecting any symbolsthat are not selected by the player to be held and presenting thereselected symbols on the display; and paying a prize according to a paytable and the symbols presented following the second random selectionprocess.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the symbols are presented ina matrix having n rows and m columns, wherein m is at least 3 and n isat least 2 and wherein the at least three distinct groups of symbols arethe symbols in each column of the matrix.
 3. The method of claim 1,further including providing the option to select none of the groups ofsymbols to be held.
 4. The method of claim 1, including providing theoption to select all of the groups of symbols to be held.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the display is the visible portion of a plurality ofphysical spinning reels, one reel for each said presented symbol on thedisplay.
 6. A method for use with a gaming machine that is arranged to,in response to the staking of a wager, select symbols, present theselected symbols on a display to represent a plurality of outcomes andaward an award if a winning outcome occurs, the method comprising:receiving a selection of a plurality of outcomes on which to stake awager; in a first random selection process selecting a plurality ofsymbols and presenting the selected symbols on a display of the gamingmachine in manner so that a plurality of initial outcomes are visuallydeterminable, wherein each symbol is selected independently of eachother symbol and the plurality of symbols are separated into at leastthree distinct groups of symbols, each group containing at least twosymbols and wherein each of the plurality of outcomes includes one andonly one member of each group of symbols; receiving a selection from aplayer of the gaming machine of one or more of the groups of symbols tobe held; in a second random selection process reselecting any symbolsthat are not selected by the player to be held and presenting thereselected symbols on the display so that a plurality of final outcomesare visually determinable; and following the second random selectionprocess either paying a prize or not according to a pay table and thefinal outcomes.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the selection of aplurality of outcomes on which to stake a wager is a selection of threeoutcomes.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein there are five said groupsof symbols.
 9. A gaming machine that is arranged to select symbols,present the selected symbols on a display to represent a plurality ofgame outcomes and award an award if a winning outcome occurs in theplurality of game outcomes, the gaming machine comprising: a gamecontroller in communication with a display, the game controllerincluding a random number generator, the game controller adapted to usenumbers generated by the random number generator to select symbols forpresentation on the display in a process including two stages, whereinin a first stage of the process, a first selection of a plurality ofsymbols is presented on the display to form a plurality of initialoutcomes, wherein each symbol is selected independently of each othersymbol; in a second stage of the process, one or more subsets of symbolsare reselected and presented on the display to form a plurality of finaloutcomes, wherein each subset includes one and only one symbol from eachof the plurality of outcomes; following the second stage paying a prizeaccording to a pay table and the final outcomes.
 10. The gaming machineof claim 9, wherein the gaming machine includes a user interface adaptedto allow a player of the gaming machine to select the number of saidsubsets of the first selection of symbols to be reselected.
 11. Thegaming machine of claim 10, wherein the symbols are presented in amatrix having n rows and m columns, wherein n is at least 2 and m is atleast 3 and wherein subsets of the first selection of symbols availablefor selection consist of at least two of the columns of symbols in thematrix.
 12. The gaming machine of claim 11, wherein the gaming machineand user interface is adapted so that the player can select any of the mcolumns to be reselected.
 13. The gaming machine of claim 12, whereinthe gaming machine and user interface is adapted so that the player canselect all or none of the m columns to be reselected.
 14. The gamingmachine of claim 11, wherein the display is the visible portion of aplurality of physical spinning reels, one reel for each said presentedsymbol on the display.
 15. A gaming machine for play by a playercomprising: a primary and at least one second game display matricesdefined by N1-X columns and M rows; a device for prompting play aprocessor to randomly select and to control the display to displaysymbols in the primary game matrix, to hold at least one of the columnsNH of the primary game and replicate the held column NH into the secondgame; an input device for the player to hold remaining columns, any heldcolumns replicated into said second game; a device to prompt a draw,said processor in response to said prompt configured to select anddisplay symbols for any column N1-X not held to define final outcomesfor the primary and said second game and to compare the outcomes to aschedule of winning outcomes and to issue an award for any winningoutcomes.